'Life after the Olympics? I ride my shopper bike more'
Sitting down to chat with Victoria Pendleton in a swish rooftop bar, I am struck by how pretty she is. Wearing a beautifully tailored orange dress, tasteful makeup and skyscraper heels, she is a whirl of femininity. It is a far cry from the image known to millions across the world: that of Victoria looking sweaty, teary and exhausted, having just won her second medal at the London 2012 Olympics.
More fascinating than her appearance, however, is the revelation of how she has been spending her time. This world-famous cyclist, it emerges, has taken up running.
‘I’ve never been allowed to run, so I’ve been really enjoying it,’ she laughs. ‘I like running with my dogs. I’ve got two Dobermanns and I just run cross-country with them. I don’t know who has more fun: me or them.’
Always one to challenge herself, Victoria is planning to compete in her new discipline. ‘I’m doing a team triathlon. I’m the one doing the running leg. Obviously they wouldn’t let me do the cycling, and I’m not into open-water swimming – that sounds terrible.’
She is keen to point out, however, that it is just for fun. The most highly decorated female British Olympian to date – she has two golds and a silver to her name – she had more than her fair share of stress during her long cycling career. ‘I don’t miss the pressure of expectation,’ she says. ‘The team was so successful that anything short of first place was considered a bit of a failure. Going into the home Games as the reigning champion, there was no escaping it.’
She was subjected to even greater scrutiny when it emerged that she had begun a relationship with the British Cycling team’s sports scientist, Scott Gardner. Gardner was forced to resign from his position, later to be reinstated as her personal coach. He and Victoria married in 2013, but theirs wasn’t the smoothest path to a happy ending. ‘To manage that stress and not let it negatively affect you is a really hard thing to do,’ she says. ‘You’re not getting enough deep sleep because it’s always on your mind, your anxiety levels are high… It definitely takes away from the recovery process.
‘Sometimes I would get home and feel I could just cry until bedtime, because there was so much pressure on my shoulders. I will never forget how hard it was to manage that.’
Victoria certainly seems a contented lady now, frequently breaking into a smile as she speaks. It is a difference that everyone in her life has noticed. ‘I feel a lot more relaxed, a lot more settled, and a lot of my friends have said how different it has been to be in my company. I laugh a lot more now. I’ve been told I’m a better version of myself,’ she says, giggling once more.
Another person who is happy that Victoria has retired is her mum, Pauline. ‘She’s very glad that I don’t do it any more. She spent years looking between the cracks of her fingers saying, “I can’t watch.” Sometimes she would have to record it, let someone else tell her the result and then she could watch it, because she found watching it in real time was just too nerve-racking.’
Just because Victoria is no longer in the athletic arena, though, it doesn’t mean her love of sport has waned. She will be at the Commonwealth Games, from 23 July to 3 August, as a commentator for Radio 5 Live (‘It’s nice for me to actually watch the Games rather than be a part of it’), and is studying to become a personal trainer. ‘I was doing some work for Fitness First, so I was thrown back into the gym environment,’ she explains. ‘I think I underestimated how much I would miss being there, and how comfortable and confident I feel in that situation. I enjoy pushing myself, and it will be rewarding to train other people.’
Despite her diminutive size, Victoria says that being active also helps her to indulge in her love of food. ‘I’ve always been interested in nutrition, and as an athlete it’s part of your job, but I also really enjoy cooking. I think it’s probably one of the only ways to be practically creative in modern-day life.’
Thanks to a much more relaxed schedule, she has even had time to cultivate her own vegetable patch in the garden. ‘I’m really looking forward to cooking with my own veg,’ she laughs. ‘Creating something and feeling a sense of achievement, there’s nothing nicer than that.’
With contentment radiating from her, only one question remains. Does she ever get back on her bike? ‘Oh yes, but I’ve been riding my shopper bike more. It has a very girly basket. I go to the supermarket with it and always buy too much, so I have to ride home very slowly so something doesn’t roll off the top.’
And there is the image that depicts Victoria perfectly: Olympian aptitude with a very feminine edge.
Victoria Pendleton is fronting the Be Simply Great Challenge, a simple and sensible approach to staying fit, happy and healthy long-term. To find out more, visit www.simplygreatdrinks.co
More fascinating than her appearance, however, is the revelation of how she has been spending her time. This world-famous cyclist, it emerges, has taken up running.
‘I’ve never been allowed to run, so I’ve been really enjoying it,’ she laughs. ‘I like running with my dogs. I’ve got two Dobermanns and I just run cross-country with them. I don’t know who has more fun: me or them.’
Always one to challenge herself, Victoria is planning to compete in her new discipline. ‘I’m doing a team triathlon. I’m the one doing the running leg. Obviously they wouldn’t let me do the cycling, and I’m not into open-water swimming – that sounds terrible.’
She is keen to point out, however, that it is just for fun. The most highly decorated female British Olympian to date – she has two golds and a silver to her name – she had more than her fair share of stress during her long cycling career. ‘I don’t miss the pressure of expectation,’ she says. ‘The team was so successful that anything short of first place was considered a bit of a failure. Going into the home Games as the reigning champion, there was no escaping it.’
She was subjected to even greater scrutiny when it emerged that she had begun a relationship with the British Cycling team’s sports scientist, Scott Gardner. Gardner was forced to resign from his position, later to be reinstated as her personal coach. He and Victoria married in 2013, but theirs wasn’t the smoothest path to a happy ending. ‘To manage that stress and not let it negatively affect you is a really hard thing to do,’ she says. ‘You’re not getting enough deep sleep because it’s always on your mind, your anxiety levels are high… It definitely takes away from the recovery process.
‘Sometimes I would get home and feel I could just cry until bedtime, because there was so much pressure on my shoulders. I will never forget how hard it was to manage that.’
Victoria certainly seems a contented lady now, frequently breaking into a smile as she speaks. It is a difference that everyone in her life has noticed. ‘I feel a lot more relaxed, a lot more settled, and a lot of my friends have said how different it has been to be in my company. I laugh a lot more now. I’ve been told I’m a better version of myself,’ she says, giggling once more.
Another person who is happy that Victoria has retired is her mum, Pauline. ‘She’s very glad that I don’t do it any more. She spent years looking between the cracks of her fingers saying, “I can’t watch.” Sometimes she would have to record it, let someone else tell her the result and then she could watch it, because she found watching it in real time was just too nerve-racking.’
Just because Victoria is no longer in the athletic arena, though, it doesn’t mean her love of sport has waned. She will be at the Commonwealth Games, from 23 July to 3 August, as a commentator for Radio 5 Live (‘It’s nice for me to actually watch the Games rather than be a part of it’), and is studying to become a personal trainer. ‘I was doing some work for Fitness First, so I was thrown back into the gym environment,’ she explains. ‘I think I underestimated how much I would miss being there, and how comfortable and confident I feel in that situation. I enjoy pushing myself, and it will be rewarding to train other people.’
Despite her diminutive size, Victoria says that being active also helps her to indulge in her love of food. ‘I’ve always been interested in nutrition, and as an athlete it’s part of your job, but I also really enjoy cooking. I think it’s probably one of the only ways to be practically creative in modern-day life.’
Thanks to a much more relaxed schedule, she has even had time to cultivate her own vegetable patch in the garden. ‘I’m really looking forward to cooking with my own veg,’ she laughs. ‘Creating something and feeling a sense of achievement, there’s nothing nicer than that.’
With contentment radiating from her, only one question remains. Does she ever get back on her bike? ‘Oh yes, but I’ve been riding my shopper bike more. It has a very girly basket. I go to the supermarket with it and always buy too much, so I have to ride home very slowly so something doesn’t roll off the top.’
And there is the image that depicts Victoria perfectly: Olympian aptitude with a very feminine edge.
Victoria Pendleton is fronting the Be Simply Great Challenge, a simple and sensible approach to staying fit, happy and healthy long-term. To find out more, visit www.simplygreatdrinks.co